Who owns the Fish Solution
The first thing to do is to number the clues in the
riddle...
we've got to get organized...
There are 5 houses in 5 different colors. In each house lives a person
with a different nationality.
The 5 owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of
cigar, and keep a certain pet.
No owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigar, or drink the same
beverage.
The question is who owns the fish?
Clues:
1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3.
The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the left of
the white house.
5. The green house's owner drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10.
The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11.
The man who keeps the horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
13. The
German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.
Next, we draw the different elements so that they can be
moved around according to the clues.
You can right-click on the image
below to save to your computer, print it out, cut out the pieces and move them
around as necessary...or just draw your own.
Now, we can complete Einstein's Riddle "by the numbers". We
will begin with number one on the first run-through of the clues.
Read along with the clues and follow the instructions below
to solve this toughest of all brain-teasers.
1st time through our list of clues.
1. Place the "Red" rectangle on one of the empty houses and place the "Brit" flag on top of it.
2. Place the "Swede" flag and the "Dogs" into the "Group A" box.
3. Place the "Dane" flag and the "Tea" glass into the "Group B" box.
4. Mark two of the empty houses with the "Green" and the "White" rectangles. Move the two houses into the top area with the "Green" house on the left of the "White" house. Just leave them anywhere at this point as we do not yet know the position of the other houses.
5. Place the "Coffee" glass into the "Green" house.
6. Place the "Pall Mall" cigar and the "Birds" into "Group C" box.
7. Place the "Yellow" rectangle and the "Dunhill" cigar into an empty house.*
8. Due to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
9. Move an empty house into the top section. Place the "Norwegian" flag on top of it and position the house at the far left of the top section.
10. Due to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
11. Due to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
12. Place the "Bluemasters" cigar and the "Beer" glass into the "Group D" box.
13. Place the "German" flag and the "Prince" cigar into the "Group E" box.
14. This is the first of three
'Milestone' clues that Einstein gave us. We have at this point marked each of the houses in some way, Einstein has confused the issue for us by running us into a wall of confusion with this clue. But in reality, he has given us the first and second houses in the sequence. Place the "Yellow" rectangle and the "Dunhill" cigar into the "Norwegian's" house, as it is the only house to be un-colored by the specific clues.
15. Due to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
2nd time through our list of clues.
1. Due to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time
through the list of clues.
2. Due to a lack of information, we will do
nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
3. Due to a lack
of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through the list of
clues.
4. Due to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue
this time through the list of clues.
5. Due to a lack of information, we
will do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
6. Due
to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through
the list of clues.
7. As per clue #14 from the 1st run through the clues, we
know that this is the "Norwegian".
8. This is the second "Milestone" clue.
The "Green" and "White" houses are linked, as well as the "Yellow" and "Blue"
houses which cannot be moved from their relative positions in the line-up, we
can have either the "Green" or "Red" houses placed in the center spot. But, as
the "Green" house already has a beverage inside, the only house that this clue
can refer to is the "Red" one. Place the "Red" house in the center
position with "Green" and "White" to the right in positions 4 and 5. Place the
"Milk" glass inside the "Red" house.
9. Due to a lack of
information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through the list of
clues.
10. Due to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue
this time through the list of clues.
11. There being only one direct
neighbor to the man who smokes "Dunhill". Place the "Horses" into the
"Blue" house.
12. Here is the 3rd and most confusing of the
"Milestone" clues. "Group D" cannot go into either the "Yellow", "Red" or
"Green" houses. It can't go into the "Yellow" house because it already has a
cigar. It can't go into the "Red" house because that one already has a drink.
And it can't go into the "Green" house because it, too already has a drink. And,
(and this is the confusing part) it can't go into the "Blue" house because if we
placed it there, then clue #15 on the 3rd run-through would not be true. You
see, if we put it in the "Blue" house, then that would mean that the only place
for the "Blends" cigar to go would be in the "White" house, whose neighbor
already drinks "Coffee". So...the only place for "Group D" is in the "White"
house. Place "Group D" into the "White" house.
13. Due to a
lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through the
list of clues.
14. Due to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
15. Due to a lack of information, we will do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
3rd time through our list of clues.
1. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
2. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
3. All the houses have drinks except the "Yellow" and "Blue" houses. The "Yellow" house has a flag already, so "Group B" must go in the "Blue" house. Place "Group B" into the "Blue" house.
4. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
5. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
6. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
7. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
8. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
9. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
10. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
11. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
12. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
13. The only house that "Group E" can go into is the "Green" house, it being the only house with neither a cigar nor a flag. Move "Group E" into the "Green" house.
14. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
15. The only neighbor who is still without a drink is in the "Yellow" house. Place the "Water"
into the "Yellow" house. Now, the only neighbor to the "Water" drinker
is in the "Blue" house. Place "Blends" into the "Blue" house.
4th time through our list of clues.
1. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
2. Being the only house still without a flag, place "Group A" into the "White" house.
3. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
4. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
5. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
6. The only house still to have no cigar is the "Red" house. Place "Group C" into the "Red" house.
7. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
8. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
9. Do nothing with this clue this time through the list of clues.
10. The only neighbor of the "Blends" smoker without a pet is the "Yellow" house. Place "Cats" into the "Yellow" house.
If you've been paying attention, the only remaining house without a pet is the "Green" house. The only remaining pet is the "Fish". So...
* The reason I did not simply place the 'Yellow' and 'Dunhill' into the next
available "group" box was to make a point later in the explaination concerning
the logic of the writer.